Test Drive on Clarity with little charge

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KenG said:
I am one of those here that has not experienced any odd or loud engine noises in two months of ownership....


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After 2 months and 1500 miles I can’t seem to make my car sound odd/loud/straining... or get any unusual messages.... From the sound of things here... it’s only a matter of time?


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Chooch said:
Welcome!
It sounds like you have experienced the dreaded 'angry bees' sound. At least that's what folks are calling it but think it is way worse than that and it really bothers me- I'd liken it to the enraged bear that got his head stuck in the angry bees' hive sound. It's terrible and is the only thing making me not 100% in love with my Clarity. I am not sure I would have bought it if I knew about the bees, I mean bear. That said, I am learning to not hate it as my son reminded me that it is the sound of clean air since it means the car is trying hard to be efficient and clean. The car is trying a little too hard, I think, but ya gotta love kids.

When the car has charge and is in EV mode, I LOVE IT. Thankfully most of my driving is in EV- I charge at home for ~12 hours overnight on my GFCI outlet with the cord that came with the car. Then in the morning I drive 40 miles to work on EV, I charge at work for 2.5-3 hours, via a Level 2, and get home on EV as well, often with range to spare. My commute is 21 miles on back roads going ~40 mph with only a few stop signs and 19 miles on the highway going about 73 mph. Other than at night in winter (I am in NH) with heat and lights on, I can do it all EV. And one warm day I had 26.5 miles left on charge when I got home after driving 39.9 miles in EV only! So yeah, on EV , I LOVE IT! That 26.5 is the record, though I have returned home from work with 15+ miles quite a few times in the warmer weather. I do drive very conservatively except for an occasional quick start off the stop line just because it's fun.

However the trouble is on those instances where I travel further than the available range. I really don't like when the revving starts. Sometimes, when driving on back roads with battery depleted which is when the revving typically happens, even after taking my foot off the gas, the engine continues to rev for a few seconds and I can see it is in the green charging. That is very unnerving to me; it is almost as if the car has a mind of its own with regard to the gas pedal. Not a comfortable feeling. As others have said, I try not to fully deplete the battery since this makes the revving happen.
However on the highway I don't notice the revving engine sound so much, even if the battery is depleted.

I wish it had a way to simply run on gas when there is no battery left, rather than trying to run the car and also charge the battery from burning gas. I thought HVCharge was for simultaneously running the car and charging the battery but it sure does it in regular HV mode as well. By the way, I NEVER use HV Charge--talk about angry bees/bear! That engine sound is so atrocious, and it happens even on the highway, that I fear the car will explode.

So from my experience I'd say if you can run mainly on EV or on the highway, the engine revving sound will not occur much, if at all, and you'll LOVE the car. If you will frequently exceed range and travel more on non-highway roads, unfortunately I'd not advise buying the Clarity if you found the revving to be unnerving. And if you're driving habits leave you somewhere in the middle of those scenarios, at least you know what you'll be getting yourself into as you've experienced the angry bees firsthand already. I think you'll find additional threads if you search angry bees here.
Perhaps you could ask for a weekend trial test drive so you can run it through all possible scenarios; even if you have to pay for it, it'd probably be worth it. I've heard of people getting to do that whereas I test drove for about 10 minutes.

I am not sure if the VOLT does the revving thing when out of charge but, if not, I might consider that. My coworker loves his. But I gotta say, looking at the two cars parked in the lot next to each other, the Clarity is bigger and way nicer (hive and all).

As for the light colored interior- I went with black Touring but they did offer some type of stain resistant treatment at purchase which I declined (even after they dropped the price from like $450 to like $250). It guaranteed against stains and tears and I asked specifically about the 'suede' parts and they said yes it was included so if you love that color, maybe splurge for the treatment for peace of mind but get the price down first or ask them to throw it in.
Oh and I'd also go with the Touring- mainly for the preconditioning option which I don't think is included with standard version, since it is very convenient, at least in the cold NH winter.
Good luck with your decision!
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The Volt just sounds like a lawn mower when it has no charge!


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trueblue said:
I went to test drive the Clarity yesterday, and unfortunately, there wasn't a car in the lot with a fully charged battery. The engine came on almost as soon as I hit the accelerator, and wow - the noise it made didn't sound good at all. The engine sounded like it was straining on acceleration, and I felt like it really struggled to get up and go. I had pretty much made up my mind that I was going to buy this car, and soon, but that engine sound is making me hesitant. For you who already have the Clarity, what are your thoughts on ICE performance? I know the goal is to use the car in EV mode as much as possible, but when that just isn't possible, I want to know that the ICE performs well. Thanks for any input you guys can provide on that.

Secondary question for those with light interior -- how hard is it to keep the sueded part of the dash and door panel clean?
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The Clarity can be a Jekyl/Hyde in this respect. We're coming up on 6,000 miles, and I think only 3 or 4 times has the engine roared as you describe. It can and is very noisy when it does, but fortunately it's really a rarity when that happens. Once you have any kind of a normal charge, even when the ICE kicks in, the transition can be near seamless and almost not heard or felt at all. So the engine, when operating normally, is really not noisy at all.
 
AlanSqB said:
I also think it's the fact that the Honda dealers don't have any facility to complete the charging. They just aren't set up with any J1772 stations and Honda needs to fix that quickly.
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While I agree that they need to install charging stations, there is an easy fix built into the car: just put it in HV charge mode! I'm pretty sure that this is what the dealer I bought from did. When we did our test drive, I had asked them to charge the car when I scheduled the appointment. I was assured that it would be fully charged and ready to go. When we got there, the car was about 2/3 charged.

I suspect that they just put it in HV Charge mode for a while until the car automatically switched the engine off when the battery was 2/3 full.
 
Emanuel Green said:
While I agree that they need to install charging stations, there is an easy fix built into the car: just put it in HV charge mode! I'm pretty sure that this is what the dealer I bought from did. When we did our test drive, I had asked them to charge the car when I scheduled the appointment. I was assured that it would be fully charged and ready to go. When we got there, the car was about 2/3 charged.

I suspect that they just put it in HV Charge mode for a while until the car automatically switched the engine off when the battery was 2/3 full.
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Just plug it into a regular outlet overnight and they would be set for 10 test drives a day- no brainer
 
The dealer called late last week and offered to let me take the car for an "extended" test drive. Meaning I can pick the car up after work one day, and take it to work the next day to test the real life results I would get with the Clarity. I'm having second thoughts after reading about the issues people are having with it though (stops charging before getting a full charge, warning lights coming on), and I'm concerned that if I take it for this extended test drive, they'll expect me to buy the car.
 
trueblue said:
The dealer called late last week and offered to let me take the car for an "extended" test drive. Meaning I can pick the car up after work one day, and take it to work the next day to test the real life results I would get with the Clarity. I'm having second thoughts after reading about the issues people are having with it though (stops charging before getting a full charge, warning lights coming on), and I'm concerned that if I take it for this extended test drive, they'll expect me to buy the car.
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I and the vast majority of people on the forum have never had a problem with fully charging. In fact now it gets 69 miles on a charge. Never had warning lights either. This is a great car. Plus I wouldn't feel pressured in the least to buy a car.
 
Trueblue, take the real world test drive. No one can make you buy a car until you sign a contract. Yes a few are having problems, but the vast majority of us are extremely happy with our purchase. This is the most trouble free, quiet, and economical car I have ever owned.
Mikey says, “Try it, you’ll like it.”
 
I seriously don't understand those among us that complain about "angry bees". Understanding how the hybrid system works, having the engine rev high at certain times should be expected. Some people here have previous experience with electric or plug-in hybrid electric cars. The Clarity seems to act differently than other hybrids. It certainly acts differently that a standard automobile. But different isn't bad, it's just different.

While it has taken a bit of time for me to acclimate to a car where the engine revs can be completely uncoupled from the speed of the car, its been just that. An acclimation period. 14 weeks of ownership and I don't even know when the engine is running anymore unless I have the graphic displayed.
 
Tailwind said:
I seriously don't understand those among us that complain about "angry bees". Understanding how the hybrid system works, having the engine rev high at certain times should be expected. Some people here have previous experience with electric or plug-in hybrid electric cars. The Clarity seems to act differently than other hybrids. It certainly acts differently that a standard automobile. But different isn't bad, it's just different.

While it has taken a bit of time for me to acclimate to a car where the engine revs can be completely uncoupled from the speed of the car, its been just that. An acclimation period. 14 weeks of ownership and I don't even know when the engine is running anymore unless I have the graphic displayed.
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I’m 2 months and 1700 miles in.... no gas use... no funky messages....no angry bees, high revving, nothing but the best car out of many that I have ever driven...
 
I can’t replicate any of the charging issues, and I’ve really tried.

Try out the car. Overnight test drives are not an unusual thing for a legitimate dealer. They want to make sure you are happy with what you’re getting.
 
I recently purchased a one day subscription to Honda Service Express and did some research on the Clarity. Not a lot of information outside of DTC explanations and fixes but more will come with time. Did find this particular Service Bulletin. Basically you should be very wary of a Clarity that hasn't been charged properly and regularly while at the dealership and especially if the battery fuse is left in (which it probably is). Thankfully I did not have to worry about this as I took delivery of my car the day it arrived at the dealership. Also this shows that the car should never be stored for more than 60 days without being plugged in. See below and attached.

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AnthonyW said:
I recently purchased a one day subscription to Honda Service Express and did some research on the Clarity. Not a lot of information outside of DTC explanations and fixes but more will come with time. Did find this particular Service Bulletin. Basically you should be very wary of a Clarity that hasn't been charged properly and regularly while at the dealership and especially if the battery fuse is left in (which it probably is). Thankfully I did not have to worry about this as I took delivery of my car the day it arrived at the dealership. Also this shows that the car should never be stored for more than 60 days without being plugged in. See below and attached.

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Great information. Thanks for sharing the file. It saved to Adobe so I can access it without searching the forum.
 
KenG said:
I’m 2 months and 1700 miles in.... no gas use... no funky messages....no angry bees, high revving, nothing but the best car out of many that I have ever driven...
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Readers of this forum should understand that the problems described here are being experienced by a subset of the forum members. There is not yet a thread for "I love my Clarity, which has no problems!"

I'm superstitiously reticent to report that after 6 months our Clarity has been a dream to own and drive (while knocking on our Touring's attractive imitation wood). The only thing we've experienced that bothers some people is the engine starting up shortly after leaving home with 100% charge. That's happened only once. We have yet to experience the HV Range craziness because, like KenG, we're still hauling around Honda's gas.

That last point prompts me to mention that I was at first disappointed when I first read the Clarity would have only a 7-gallon gas tank. It didn't affect my purchase decision because I told my dealer 18 months ago I wanted the first one to be delivered (which was on December 2nd). However, now that it's clear that the Clarity's EV range is sufficient for nearly all of our trips for the past 6 months, I realize that a larger gas tank, which would always be full of 6-pound-per-gallon gasoline, would actually reduce the car's EV range due to the increased weight!

Please understand that I'm not advocating for a 2-gallon tank. I'll appreciate the car's 340 mile nominal combined range (or 280- to 293-mile battery-saving hybrid range) when we eventually take a long trip. The question is: When we finally use up the gas that came with the car, will I tell myself, "Fill 'er up!" or will I just put in a few of those heavy gallons?
 
I say fill it up to avoid any room for water condensation (yes, even though it’s a closed pressurized system) and go on a diet to loose the 18 lbs added by those last 3 gal of gas. Then you’re back even and healthier too. Or tell your spouse to do this if you’re fool heartedly brave enough.
And I added some Stabil since Honda’s gas has been in there 4 months and counting for me.
 
AnthonyW said:
...if the battery fuse is left in
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Speaking of the battery fuse, when I read in the Owner's Manual that the battery fuse has a rating of 175 amps, I gasped. Then I spent $12 to buy one so I could see what a 175-amp, 58-volt fuse looks like without having to pull it out of our Clarity. I was wrong to expect a solid metal bar. Behold:

175-amp_fuse.jpg
 
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